Vortices

I love technology.  I think it is one of the major advancements of the 21st century.  It can motivate us, it can recharge us, it can provide ways of communicating that my grandparents only dreamed about.  If they even thought about it all.  They were probably figuring out how to keep their well flowing, or how to feed their family, or how to survive the flooding of the Assiniboine River during their first year in Canada, in 1925.

I think they felt like they had fallen into a vortex. They left Russia after the Revolution. They gave up their lives of privilege and wealth (the Revolution had taken it away from them anyway) and came to Manitoba in the middle of the winter.  January to be exact.  They spent their remaining money (hidden in a well from the bandits in Russia) on seed, and the Assiniboine immediately flooded and all was swept away.   They waited months, even a year, for some way to communicate with loved ones who remained behind.They chose freedom over tyranny.  

For some people, technology and its constant of change is a tyranny.  It requires us to understand the add-ons, the virus protection, firewalls, wireless versus wired, new software, so many words and meanings that they have created a huge whirlpool in the psyche of many.   What is the best choice?  Who can help with questions?  Does technology have anything to do with real lives, with families, with teaching, with artistic endeavours?  How can we understand this ongoing change?  It always seems to speed up.

The analogy of a whirlpool, the speed, the danger, the energy, is a symbol that resonates with me.  What I need to do is understand the energy, and harness it to a useful purpose.